i wasn't told to go in the pub where you were you know the way for his preview to any. syrian president bashar asad speaks exclusively to r.t. about his own his country's future saying is not a western puppet as ready to die in syria. iraq obama slaps new sanctions on iran and one of his first foreign policy decisions since reelection. towns itself as a tourist destination despite some towns still recovering from conflict and devastation.

this is coming to live from moscow welcome to the program now the syrian president has predicted a global catastrophe should western states intervene in his country an exclusive interview with r.t. bashar assad also vowed to live and die in syria for in this we're going to talk to our middle east correspondent. hello to you paula now how does the syrian president view his future. well in this exclusive interview with our t.v. syrian president bashar assad stressed the point that he will remain in syria he said it was only for the syrian people to decide his fate he said that he was not a puppet of the west and you have the situation where the west creates enemies that essentially they are motivated by the self interests he is not the target but he did warn that these self interests of the waste lead to foreign intervention which ultimately has a domino effect he also made the point that at the moment there is no civil war in

syria he said the situation was such that you had these factions fighting they were being funded by the west he called them terrorists and he said that these terrorists coming from abroad are the biggest problem facing syria today. well how does bush wasn't a problem really when you know the way fall is created anyway it was communism really became. it became for promising for different reasons and now they want to create a new enemy because of the problem with the president so he has to do both or you have to focus on the real problem with our time listening to what they say. so how does bashar asad see his relations with other states. when on this topic he did say that most arab countries support of syria but that they too frightened to say this because of their interest these are petro dollars he did say that they would not express the support explicitly but he was assured of

it privately he spoke little about syria's going nations with turkey and here he said that there was no war between the people on the ground there was no war between the syrians and the turkish although of course there was this conflict on a government level he said that he had asked the turkish government to set up a committee that would investigate what was happening in terms of the shelling on the border shells that have been fired from the syrian side and landed in turkish territory but that this committee had not been established and that the turkish government had not responded positively to his request he made the point that editor gun wanted to see the muslim brotherhood in power in the region because this would help him step wish his own control he also spoke about iran way he said that the two countries had friendly ties dating back to nine hundred seventy nine he said that iran was opposed ally of syria and that both countries supported each other's cause. does he have

any regrets about his handling of the conflict. he said that he didn't have any regrets although he did make the point that the conflict is still ongoing on the ground and as such it's a little bit too soon to really step back and poppy address it so again no regrets for too soon to judge the situation. if today was fifteen so of march two thousand and eleven that's when the protest started to escalate and grow what would you do differently what i would do what i did exactly the same for exactly the same to start to ask different parties to work for to have dialogue and to stand against the terrorist group but i always thought if you didn't thought as modest it because there was a lot of motion but within those motions you had militants who thought that through to the civilians and at the same time maybe on the tactical level you could have

done something different but as president to not think you could go to take the decision or threaten you cliff which is different. in essence the point being made by the syrian president bashar assad is that his government was fighting and that just him of course that what is happening in syria today is foreign intervention that is attempting to destabilize the situation and that he is taking his cue from the syrian people all right paul thanks very much indeed for this fall asleep reporting there. and you can see of course the full exclusive interview with syria's president bashar asad at seven am g.m.t. here in r.t. it's also available on our website dot com. i'm syrian i mean. maybe in syria the affidavits you know i'm going student bash our allies in our two exclusive friday through sunday on r t r t v dot com

meanwhile the divided syrian opposition is locked in the goshi asians over the creation of a unified group backed by western states it's hoped they could forge a transitional cabinet which they are keen to present as a government in waiting politics professor stephen zunes believes the opposition's strategy is shifting towards terror tactics fed by weapons coming from abroad. both the syrian national council and riyadh was wissam with them has long been divided on the question of armed struggle both were mislead criminals and nonviolence who saw saw and saw the shift more towards the armed struggle. late last year but now people are reevaluating saying hey folks this is not working it's just causing even more people to get killed it's frightened a lot of potential supporters opposition to a consolidate their support with the government because they're afraid of the fundamentalists and other extremists that have gotten into the mix and so i think we are starting to see

a reevaluation of strategy. reportedly sent in the cia and those to turkey to try to make sure that those arms that are coming in get to the to the to the so-called moderates but so the ability of any outside power to control arms once again going hands of people who want to use them is pretty limited. such as days after his reelection to the white house brock obama has impose new sanctions against iran and its comes as the pentagon has revealed that iranian warplanes tried to should down a u.s. drone flying near iran's border last week are just guy asked to count has more. president obama's first moves after he won reelection have pretty much indicated that in the next four years he will aggressively pursue the idea of the u.s. being the world police ministration is impose financial sanctions against the iranian officials will be u.s. blames for jamming satellite broadcast and blocking internet access anywhere in that comes on top of a whole bunch of other sanctions that had been put in place by the u.s. which proved to be crippling for the ukrainian economy and the population there is

suffering a great deal because of that while campaigning president obama indicated that he didn't want to go to war with iran but that he would continue the sanctions policy and that's what he's doing and we've heard reports that the obama administration might engage in direct talks with iran at some point but there has been no confirmation that. threatens to attack iran and the u.s. appears to be stopping them some argue that. might be playing a good cop bad cop diplomatic game there anyway the administration's strategy appears to be to make iran's so desperate that they would agree to anything but sanctioning iran was probably not president obama's very first move after winning this election government officials here say said on wednesday a u.s. drone strike targeted a group of al qaida militants in yemen and the president had to authorize that and possibly he did that within hours after his reelection the use of drones has been highly controversial it's quite clear not everybody by those drones are terrorists

and the administration so far has been far from transparent on how they pick the targets and basically authorize executions overseas the u.n. has raised concerns about the legality of such executions there has been a lot of practices and especially after numerous reports of civilian deaths in the meantime this administration is said to rely on drones more and more and other drone related story this week the pentagon said the rainy and military had fired upon but did not hit a you was drone flying close to the pentagon claimed the drone was there on a surveillance mission so looking at some of president obama's first moves after reelection one could say he takes the idea of america being the world police very seriously but the question is who's going to hold that world police itself accountable. now the u.s. has so far failed to use the bargaining opportunity the sanctions potentially have says reza marashi research director at the national iranian american council

you can continue to ramp up the sanctions on iran but sanctions ostensibly are supposed to provide leverage at the negotiating table if you're not using them as a negotiating chip when you're at the negotiating table then all they are is a blunt instrument the ends up adversely affecting the lives of innocent iranian people this is the first instance in which we've seen obama move forward on sanctions and it remains to be seen whether or not he doubles down on the diplomatic track of his policy to try to find a peaceful solution to the crisis but we haven't seen to date tangible evidence of these sanctions causing the iranian government to change strategic calculus on its regional policies or on more specifically its nuclear policy and that's supposed to be the goal that's the metric of success that both the bush administration and the obama administration have defined seen the obama administration really ramp up the amount of drone usage you know whether it is yemen or pakistan or even today we saw a report of the iranian government shooting at an american drone that was off of

its coast so we're in uncharted waters when it comes to policy american policy related to drones and until we have some rules to this game that the international community can abide by you know playing off the same script that increases the likelihood of a conflict that the united states and the international community i think would independently seek to avoid. and coming up it's all in the name for one u.s. citizens stopped in qatar find out what you were called could link you to bring manila to the empire are you from and during your own country. twenty three years since the fall of the berlin wall we moved out of the changes the year is a broad to germany but he tells her just ahead. while leaving town of bani walid is still struggling to heal the scars of the siege which took place less than a month ago levy is being promoted as a new travel hotspot visited the world travel market in london to find out why two

operators remain silent on the tragedy. we're here at the world travel market a trade show a taking place in london where people can consulates their holiday inspiration or that scout exotic spot for a honey one country you probably wouldn't expect to see being touted as a tourist destination and that's libya the places where the tourist interesting the site is a political sideshow it's a completely safe i can recommend list of libya for anybody to come there i can guarantee you that's going to be safe more than even towns big towns like london or new york but there's somewhere there's not mentioned in the guide burke bani walid a desert town this remain loyal to formally to colonel gadhafi it's just a few hours try southeast of the traditional tourist destination tripoli but it's a world away from the safe environment the two guides of pitching. the town's become the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since the libyan uprising last

year but despite reports of indiscriminate shelling and gas attacks on the local population at the hands of the libyan army there's been an almost total media blackout in the. r.t. run story for more than a fortnight before anyone else picked it up back in london and despite libya being showcased it seems that bani walid has once again been conveniently left out of the conversation when i saw this then it was a goes with surprise and i came. back of the situation at the moment in libya and if we have so many people there it means our situation is that it becoming more stable and we can think for next season to do something with libya and it's a wonderful country so we would about what's happening in. the new world lead do but do you mean was had been happening there's been fighting do you know about that no. you haven't heard about that i haven't heard you work for a travel company way and they haven't told you what's happening in burnie welling.

you know look what happens and when a lot of fighting in the past couple of weeks now we went to confront the tour operator your promoting terrorism in libya. so you speak and some people each telling them about what's been happening in bani walid at the moment. this is . for the future. there's a reason to speak about the silence on the subjects perhaps not surprising for tour operator trying to drum up much needed business the sites of bodies and homes burned to the ground and the selling points was deeply disturbing is that despite a growing body of evidence about crimes against civilians and increasingly vocal concerns from human rights organizations the same media and government remain resolutely silent they've got to sort of package this as a success it's very important for nato wherever nato intervened so what the reality

is they've got to promote it as a success so we have this sort. of these countries have been liberated in inverted commas great places to go great places to invest and the reality for the everyday person in these countries is a living hell really pick up one of the travel information than you'll be given reasons to visit living here and undoubtedly there are many there's a concerning silence in a case by the u.k. media a seeming refusal to talk about what's been happening in places like bani walid the reality is that the new government is struggling to control its militias and bridge the deep divides that remain in the country but none of that you're going to read about in the. surf artsy london and one of the libyan government says bani walid will soon recover a local's believe their current status far from normal r.t. spoke to a man named ferrars who's in contact with his relatives in the stricken town and says the fighting is still not over for are not his real name is currently in egypt

and has asked not to be undead identified over fears for his safety. government of t.v.'s supporting that was also militias that are. attacking and killing innocent citizen continually city leave the peace militias out of looking all supplies now throwing to the city of beirut this included minutes in food water and die that are left in the sixty's they are destroying almost with guns and bullets and use chemical we've been used to kill. to kill. all but he would eat this is against all the definition and knows this article name is evidence to humanity and i use difference and know if i do want to be a one night and this young fellow who tool to another school to. be able to do it here and do good he didn't do it there but isn't this

a league of the united states is was trying to steal ability could do with their status with dumbass on the guns and stupidity done that if it were not if they know now that i was guided as i mean the government of libya do this to allies who believe in bieber. now leading bahraini your rights activist continues to await his fate the trial of the baylor job has been under arrest since july will resume in a month's time after thursday's hearings find out more by logging on to arkie dot com. now that new frontier astronomers discover a planet seven times the size of earth which could support human life pointed out online.

this was the plant that was responsible for causing the world's worst industrial disaster and now it had been abandoned in a condition where it had become a source of pollution or the most recent study that was done shows that this water pollution already. more than a hundred thousand people in. groups working with affected children see the children to be ten times more likely to be born with birth defects in children in

the rest of. the sea as little as five hundred dollars. unpunished. we speak your language. programs in spanish. is a little too much of angola's story. spanish . visit. an american now living and working in qatar has been barred from traveling home to

visit his sick mother long who is an air force veteran has been placed on a federal no fly list without explanation i don't see any from the council of american islamic relations believes he is muslim name makes him an undesirable person in the united states. there is no indication of any reason for him to be on this no fly list he has never been convicted of any criminal activity he has served his country for ten years in the u.s. air force and he has indicated that there is nothing he can think of that would link him to anything criminal in nature you know there are cases kerry has dealt with in the past of individuals who were placed on a no fly list sometimes it just has to do with the name their name may sound like someone who was affiliated with criminal activities or or something of the sort we've never really been given answers by the f.b.i. and the department of homeland security so we're not one hundred percent sure it's kind of speculation at this point but nevertheless you know he's indicated that he

has a law abiding u.s. citizen and really cannot think of anything that would prevent him from travel. tell us private bradley manning accused of leaking military and diplomatic documents to weaken leaks might plead guilty to some of the charges he's facing in his court martial the lawyer on the suspect the whistleblower says he's ready to admit to some lesser offense and but not to aiding the enemy the most serious charge which could result in a life sentence the court martial is to consider whether this is a permissible plea journalist josh garrett stein says the fans is trying to prove that the case against manning is being overblown. i think the defense team here is trying to dramatize the way that manning has been charged a lot of people feel that the case is over charged meaning that based on what manning allegedly did here to charge him with aiding the enemy for posting something on the internet for example is taking things a step too far and i think the defense is either whether it's a plea deal or whether it's just sort of

a public bid to emphasize the fact that manning is being punished too seriously or facing serious punishment i think that's basically the gambit the defense is pursuing the court has to decide whether to accept this and then ultimately the military itself decides whether they want to press forward with the most serious charges that manning's face there's been many more such prosecutions under obama than all previous presidents combined and it looks like this pattern is going to continue. to look at some other stories from around the world series of explosions have ripped through a chemical plant and call that claiming the lives of two people and injuring one thousand more a massive initial blast was followed by several smaller ones raising concerns over toxic smoke and contamination around the industrial plant the cause of the explosion is not yet known. hundreds of taking to the streets in saudi arabia in memory of fourteen people killed during last year's anti-government protests demonstrators are criticizing the kingdom for refusing to

investigate the killings and its stance on public gatherings countrywide protests denouncing the regime as supporting political prisoners have grown significantly since last year the government has issued repeated warnings against the rallies promising a strong response. university students in chile have clashed with riot police over and new law against unauthorised public gatherings through rocks and fireworks at the authorities who responded with tear gas legislation would increase punishment for those rallying without government permission to. as many as three years in prison. in china should be aiming to become a maritime superpower according to the country's outgoing president hu jintao smell surge to the national congress comes a had a once in a decade leadership transition the president called on the country to step up its military prowess with the focus on save guarding its interests at sea china's

defense budget is already the second largest in the war and the country also boasts the world's second largest car. the fall of the berlin wall on the vendor of the ninth exactly twenty three years ago symbolize the and of the cold war the day will be marked by memorial ceremonies across germany but as marie ivanovna now reports even two decades after the fall the visions still. made in love a belly produced in western germany by a choreographer from the former g.d.r. in the eighty's when one nation was riven into different fled what he saw as a prison for the promise of freedom is an artist needed inspiration but didn't have a chance to see the outside world were telling us in the world waits roots in the west we were different but emotional genuine that. he never came back because even twenty years after the fall of the berlin wall the

east is too locked in the dark past. soviet era infrastructure derailed never really adapting to the capitalist reality reunification it turns out was more annexation what happened politically and in the way of international laws that west germany became bigger if they would have taken the chance in that time to say we abolish both germany as we abolish the west of germany and we abolish the eastern region in the east germany and we make something you would make a new germany this might have been much better the forging of one nation was the end of another this is all that remains from a once large power plant in the village of men that stein in eastern germany it used to generate electricity for railroads and trams shortly after reunification the plant was shut down as happened with most industry in the former g.d.r. abandoned buildings like this and deliberate dated are still scattered all across

the east here silence reminders of the former republics power the two decades following the reunification so a million and a half had west most to youngsters live in an aging population behind slowly that might be changing since two thousand one the migration numbers are declining and in two thousand and eleven we had for the first time note not more out migrants than in migrants these people live in britain statistics they are also see the nickname for born easterners and they've returned home and everybody want to come but sometimes opportunity is not given it's a responsibility of the political to encourage people to stay here to give them like a maybe. opportunity to earn money but they're using eastern greed and western guile to help themselves probably they all had similar problems like. where

do i find a flower or if i want to buy a whole lot of these curves off so the next project was that we build a website where we try to collect all these information but the challenge is the tougher to overcome maybe unspoken the water between their video and us germany was one of the hottest across in the world this brown path is what used to be a minefield and imposing construction with says it to be cameras barbed wire fences and watchtowers every one of the half kilometers it was all taken away off to reunion this place is now a museum but while there was a may have become part of history division remains the boundary in some people's minds is as solid as ever and until these barrier falls through reunification will remain just an illusion or if an ocean r.t. reporting from germany. wax we explore the secret behind a world's most widely used and reliable assault rifle the gardner.

i'm fifty and i'm a. maiden furia daphne vincent and thanksgiving bashar al assad in an arch exclusive friday through sunday on r t and r t v dot com. is the food. the food. food to eat. clean.

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